The Union Vol. 78 No. 6

The Union

Murder suspect faces judge

Man arrested for killing on campus gets 2nd court date

By Angela Osorio and Ma. Gisela Ordenes

The person charged for the Dec. 24, 2023 sledgehammer attack of a woman at El Camino College is scheduled for his next preliminary hearing on May 15 after attending the first one on Wednesday, March 6 at the Torrance Municipal Court.

When Davis arrived at the hearing in a blue prison jumpsuit, his hands were cuffed. He avoided eye contact with the people assembled in the courtroom, except for the judge and his attorney. There was a tattoo visible on the left side of his neck.

Davis appeared at his arraignment on Jan. 17, pleading not guilty to the murder charges against him under California Penal Code section 187.

During his March 6 hearing, which lasted about three minutes, the prosecution and

defense attorneys said they are still investigating the case.

Walter Quintero, the deputy district attorney, said he is waiting on the results of the autopsy and other evidence.

Public defense attorney Murrey Correa said they are investigating everything to “make sure the truth comes out.”

Correa said the case could take one to two years.

As the case is still under investigation, Thomas Sokolov, the judge, set May 15 for the next preliminary hearing.

Davis, a 40-year-old transient, is facing charges of murder for the death of Junko Hanafusa, a 65-year-old Japanese woman who was walking her dog and collecting recyclables on campus when she was attacked with a sledgehammer near the El

Camino College Gymnasium on Dec. 24.

Hanafusa died the next day at a local hospital.

According to a Dec. 27, 2023 press release by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Information Bureau, officers identified the attacker as Davis.

After police identified Davis through security camera footage outside the gymnasium, they found and arrested him at Alondra Park near the campus a few hours after the attack.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate locator describes Davis as a six-foot male weighing 180 lbs.

Inmate records say he has a history of nine arrests, with two misdemeanors handled by the El Camino Police Department.

TIMELINE: SLEDGEHAMMER ATTACK ON CAMPUS

Dec. 24, 2023

Hanafusa attacked, Davis arrested

Dec. 25, 2023

Hanafusa dies at a nearby hospital

Dec. 27, 2023

Alerts from L.A. County Sheriff about attack

Jan. 2

College emails faculty and staff about attack

Jan. 8

College posts on social media about attack

Jan. 9

College emails students about attack

Jan. 17

Torrance Court arraigns

Davis

March 6

Preliminary setting hearing

Two pot shop workers guilty in murder of ECC student

By Kim McGill

They choked him, injected his eyes with ketamine and dumped his body in the desert because they suspected he was stealing from the marijuana dispensary where he worked.

This is the evidence that was presented at the trial that led the jury to find two dispensary workers guilty of killing an El Camino College student.

Almost three years since Juan Hernandez’s body was found in the Mojave Desert, the dispensary’s owner, Weijia Peng, 34, and store manager, Ethan Astaphan, 30, will be sentenced on Thursday, April 25, for the first-degree murder of Hernandez.

“Sadly, there are no winners,” Hernandez’s mother, Yajaira Hernandez, told The Union.

ASO approves $25k purchase of utility vehicle

By Nasai Rivas

The Associated Students Organization approved a plan to spend $25,000 to purchase a utility vehicle and its accessories for the organization to use and donate to the college.

According to the student government’s Senate meeting minutes,the ASO is planning to buy a Cushman Shuttle 4 Utility Vehicle which it will donate to the college on paper. However, the ASO will have the “exclusive right” to use the vehicle.

The student government is also paying $3,000 to the El Camino Community College District every year for the operation and maintenance of the vehicle.

40-year-old Jeffery Davis sits in court during a preliminary hearing setting at the Torrance Courthouse on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Davis is accused in the sledgehammer attack and murder of 65-year-old Junko Hanafusa near the Gymnasium at El Camino College on Dec. 24, 2023. Photo by Raphael Richardson

Angel Flores | Special to The Union

El Camino should do better in alerting the community of crime

By Union Editorial Board

When a man killed Junko Hanafusa with a sledgehammer on campus on Dec. 24, 2023, El Camino College’s Director of Public Information and Public Relations Kerri Webb said the college didn’t send out a notification because the campus was closed.

Doing so “would’ve made no sense,” Webb said. “It would have just actually caused more harm and chaos and confusion.”

The El Camino College Police Department crime log identified the attack as “murder.” The college notified the community through social media posts on Jan. 8. That was 15 days since the “murder” on campus.

A neighbor of Hanafusa said, “We had women walking there that same day, on El Camino. Nobody knew what happened.”

Without accepting the excuse from the Communications Office, how about the other crimes that happened when the campus opened on Jan. 2, and students were attending classes on campus for the winter semester?

On Jan. 3, individuals in a white pickup truck tried to steal from the Construction Technology Building. On Jan. 5, a man with a weapon and drugs entered a female restroom in the Humanities Building. On Jan. 31, individuals, also in a white pickup truck, stole a gas-powered generator from the Bookstore.

On Feb. 13, a catalytic converter was stolen in parking Lot L. On Feb. 14, a burglary happened in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building. On Feb. 15, a man was seen in a women’s restroom in the Bookstore. On Feb. 26, an incident of indecent exposure happened in the Music Building.

In all these, the college only emailed two safety advisories or timely warning notices to the community: the two burglaries.

How many Nixle alerts?

None.

There are 32 entries in the police log ranging from the Dec. 24 murder to Feb. 27, including two instances of arson and two bike thefts.

The last Nixle alert from ECCPD was from Dec. 7, 2023, about a power outage on campus. None of the 32 crimes, some directed specifically at women, merited an alert.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act says, “In the event that a situation arises…and that in the judgment of the District’s chief of police poses a serious or continuing threat to students and employees, a timely warning will be issued through all appropriate means.”

Why the need for these safety advisories, you ask? The Clery Act answers that too: “The purpose of these notices is to aid in the prevention of similar crimes and to enable people to protect themselves.”

In a campus safety forum on Feb. 13, El Camino Police Chief Michael Trevis said, “It is up for debate but I’m gonna say this: El Camino College is safe. Most of the crimes that happen are at 2 and 3 a.m.”

The sledgehammer attack happened at 7:16 a.m. All 31 entries after that occurred from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., most of them during daytime, when there were students, faculty and staff on campus, unaware they were in the middle of an active crime scene.

In an email about the attack sent on Jan. 9, the college told the community to “be alert, be prepared and to always be aware of [their] surroundings.”

Help us protect ourselves by providing us with the necessary information. Information is power, and it could spell the difference between safety and harm, in some cases, between life and death.

The campus has voiced its concerns: the administration needs to do a better job of informing us about crimes happening on campus. Timely alerts should be sent “through all appropriate means” when something that could put us in danger happens. And that includes “less serious crimes” like men going into women’s bathrooms, bike theft, arson among others.

“I care about you all and [your safety] is personal to me,” Ann O’Brien, executive director of marketing and communications, said during the forum.

Thank you, but caring is shown not through lip service but through actions.

Show us.

EDITORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING AND NEWS EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

ARTS & FEATURES EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

COPY EDITOR

PHOTO EDITOR

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Ma. Gisela Ordenes sablayenya@gmail.com

Eddy Cermeno eddyrcermeno@gmail.com

Johan Van Wier jvanwier22@gmail.com

Angela Osorio angoso1638@gmail.com

Nasai Rivas opinioneccunion@gmail.com

Erica Lee erjalee@gmail.com

Raphael Richardson eccunionphoto@gmail.com

Nick Geltz ngeltz4140@gmail.com

Kae Takazawa kaelealani@gmail.com

Senior Staff Writers

Staff Writers

Photographers Intern

STAFF ADVISERS

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS

Ethan Cohen

Joseph Ramirez

Joshua Flores

Jaylen Morgan

Jolan Marney

Olivia Sullivent

Osvin Suazo

Tommy Kallman

Caleb Smith

Clarence Slihm Davis

Elsa Rosales

Monroe Morrow

Rhiannon Ellis

Stefanie Frith sfrith@elcamino.edu

Kate McLaughlin kmclaughlin@elcamino.edu

PHOTO ADVISER Nguyet Thomas nthomas@elcamino.edu

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jack Mulkey elcounionads000@yahoo.com

Body shaming has no place in any society

My experience with lookism and appearances in Japan and the U.S.

By Kae Takazawa

Awoman at my old job said to me, “Did you wash your face?”

She laughed just because I have pimples.

I didn’t know how to respond. I had to pretend I was okay, even if I felt sad.

In my home country Japan, people often make comments on others’ appearance without realizing it is body shaming.

I often see Japanese people leaving insulting comments on others’ posts, such as telling them to lose weight and to change their makeup or styles. I have always wondered why no one questions this weird culture.

Growing up in Japan, I had no choice but to get used to such a culture, even if I didn’t like it.

As a kid, I was inspired by Disney movies and always dreamed of being more confident in myself like a Disney princess. This dream was one of the reasons I decided to study here.

Here in the U.S., I experienced a cultural shock.

It was a positive one, though.

I see no one criticizing someone’s appearance in person and I don’t have to be scared of expressing myself. This has made me confident.

I have pimples, damaged hair and a birthmark, but I can forget about them since people here accept me no matter how I look.

I can now say with confidence, “This is me.”

I met friends and teachers here who often give me

compliments. Those positive comments have made me feel accepted.

I have had a great time with those people because I feel less

“I recognized that I’m smiling a lot more since I came here compared to my life back home.”

pressure about the way I look.

I recognized that I’m smiling a lot more since I came here compared to my life back home in Japan.

According to a study by PLOS One, seeking human beauty value is a social phenomenon in China, Japan and Korea. Asians tend to care a lot about appearances, referred to as lookism.

In a 2021 Body Image Survey for foreigners living in Japan,

66% of them reported that they worry more about their appearance in Japan than in their home country. This means lookism has an impact on people.

“It is not your business.”

This is something I wish I said in Japan when people made these comments about my appearance.

But I was not brave enough.

I still remember every comment different people made about my appearance, and I am sure even just a couple of words you say to others can be harmful and influential to their lives.

In a Medical News Today article, studies show body shaming has a range of physical effects including eating disorders, alcohol misuse, chronic conditions and even death. Japan and the rest of the world, should be aware of how serious the problem is.

I didn’t realize the problem until I came to the U.S.

I want everyone to feel accepted and confident in how they look.

Campus Viewpoints: Community express safety concerns

Students and employees at El Camino discuss recent crimes and emergency alerts

By The Union Staff

The attack on Junko Hanafusa on Dec. 24 has made students, faculty and staff wonder if El Camino College is doing enough to increase safety measures on campus.

The Union asked people on campus on Feb. 14 how they feel about safety, what they are doing to stay safe and if they use the Nixle emergency alert text notification.

John Anderson, 19, who is studying mechanical engineering, hadn’t heard about Nixle.

“I feel like the school should promote and talk about the app more. I’m sure the majority of students don’t know about it,” he said. “I feel like students should have the app and use it often.”

Another student, Angel Flores, 18, who is studying forensic psychology, doesn’t know about Nixle either. She gets email alerts on crimes from the college.

She said she only knew about the attack because her mother told her about it.

Angel Rodriguez, 24, a state parks maintenance member from the San Fernando Valley,

said he feels uncomfortable about his girlfriend going to her early morning classes at El Camino.

“I’m sure she’s here by herself. It’s definitely something I’m more concerned about,” Rodriguez said.

Some students, like fashion design major Kathleen Muniz, 32, from Gardena, are also concerned about safety on campus.

“I’m a little reluctant [to go to campus],” she said.

Muniz found out about the attack on Hanafusa through social media, but not through Nixle. She doesn’t know what Nixle is, and was surprised that the attack had happened on campus.

Muniz said that there should be more campus police around at night.

“Especially for fashion, a lot of us are women. We are coming out [of our classes] at 7:20 p.m.,” she said. “I don’t want to be walking by myself all the way to garage parking.”

Employees on campus are shocked by the murder.

Brittani Crimes, a student services specialist at the Office of Outreach and School Relations, said she found out

about the attack on campus from her supervisor, a day or two after it happened.

“It’s scary at night. Even during the day, it’s sketchy,” Crimes said. “I feel like it would be nice to have a higher police presence on campus.”

Crimes said that when she was taking night classes, she would use a buddy system for safety, something she still does today as a staff worker.

“The police are doing the best they can, I just wish there was a higher police presence,” Crimes said. “We just want to let [students] know, as Outreach [personnel], that it’s safe on campus.”

Administration of justice major Anthony Zuniga said that he was unaware of the attack occurring on campus and was surprised to find that the school had not released any information on it for 15 days.

“I feel safe for the most part on campus… I take morning and night classes, and it’s about a three-minute walk to my car,” Zuniga said.

“I figured that [El Camino] should have immediately informed [people].

Zuniga focused on the

fact that there was a delay in informing the public about the attack.

“I don’t know if you can take measures with stuff like that, just informing us when stuff like that happens immediately,” Zuniga said. “I feel like maybe they should take this as a lesson to inform people faster.”

EricaLee,Ma.GiselaOrdenes, NasaiRivas,JoshuaFlores,Jolan Marney,JaylenMorganandJoseph Ramirezcontributedtothisstory.

Ingrid Barrera | Special to The Union

El Camino College Police Sgt. Ruben Lopez waits for students to pass by next to the Arts Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Photo by Raphael Richardson

Fashion design major Kathleen Muniz, 32, poses for a photo on Feb. 14. Photo by Nasai Rivas

Two men found guilty of killing El Camino student

“I lost Juan and [Peng and Astaphan] lost their freedom. My only comfort is that they were caught,” Yajaira Hernandez said after the verdict was read on Feb. 26.

During the three-week trial, the prosecution presented eyewitnesses, and physical and forensic evidence connecting Peng and Astaphan to Juan Hernandez’s disappearance and killing.

LAPD Robbery and Homicide Detective Jennifer Hammer testified that she recovered a digital video recorder from a search of the dispensary that showed the defendants cleaning the floor of the shop at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2020, the morning after Juan Hernandez’s disappearance. In the video, the defendants are also seen putting items from the shop into a trash bag.

“I believe those were Juan’s wallet and glasses,” Hammer said.

The LAPD reviewed 188 pages of WhatsApp messages between Peng and Astaphan highlighting their suspicions that employees were stealing money and marijuana from the shop, including Juan Hernandez.

On Sept. 21, 2020 at 4:03 a.m., Peng messaged Astaphan: “I want to fuck this kid up so bad.”

At 4:18 a.m., Peng wrote, “We talk later about plan. So far, I’m thinking about Juan.”

Astaphan messaged back: “Kk. He a definite.”

Hammer also testified that LAPD forensic detective Sean Hanson tracked the movements of Juan Hernandez’s, Peng’s, Astaphan’s and Peng’s thengirlfriend Sonita Heng’s cell

phones during that night.

From the night of Sept. 22 until the early morning of Sept. 23, 2020, the defendants’ phones moved from the Alhambra apartment where Peng and Heng lived to the dispensary, then from the dispensary to a remote section of the Mojave Desert where Juan Hernandez’s remains were discovered in Nov. 15, 2020.

Over nearly three days in court, Heng, 23, of San Diego, testified that on the day of Juan Hernandez’s death, she overheard Peng telling Astaphan “we’re gonna get rid of him” and saw Peng show Astaphan a syringe and a blue box that contained ketamine.

Heng further testified that Astaphan laughed about injecting ketamine into Juan Hernandez’s eyes, that Peng told her to turn off the freeway onto a dirt road where the SUV provided the only light, and Astaphan and Peng took Juan Hernandez’s body from the car and returned without him.

After interviewing Heng on Dec. 16, 2020, Hammer contacted Brian Hutchins, chief forensic pathologist with the Coroner Division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and asked him to examine Juan Hernandez’s remains for ketamine.

Hutchins testified that he could not determine a cause of death until he was asked to test for ketamine and was shown the video evidence of Astaphan on top of Juan Hernandez on the dispensary floor.

His final ruling as to Juan Hernandez’s cause of death was “acute ketamine toxicity with chokehold.”

Glendale Police Department Detective Juan Giraldo,

a specialist in computer forensics for the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory, testified that he recovered millions of images from videos deleted from the dispensary’s DVR. Giraldo was able to isolate images of Astaphan on top of Juan Hernandez on the dispensary floor in the minutes after 11 p.m. on Sept. 22, 2020.

During the trial, defense counsel for both Peng and Astaphan agreed as to the authenticity of the evidence presented, including accurate tracking of cell phone records, WhatsApp messages and recovered digital video recordings and images, including the accuracy of the images’ dates and timestamps.

Throughout the trial, Astaphan’s attorney, L.A. County public defender Larson Hahm, and Peng’s attorney Ronald Hedding each deflected attention away from their client’s intentions, often alleging that the other defendant played a more direct

Noncredit courses could help improve ECC

By Jolan Marney

ElCamino College students can sign up for free mirrored noncredit classes to receive an introduction to programs the college provides which can also help increase enrollment.

English professor Matthew Kline said during the March 5 Academic Senate meeting some benefits of taking mirrored noncredit courses include how the courses open up student

Police Beat

By Rhiannon Ellis

The Union publishes police beats online with each newspaper release. Visit eccunion.com to read more.

opportunities and enrollment.

“There are two main reasons, two that I want to highlight,” Kline said. “Number one is outreach. It’s a noncredit course with no tuition, so it’s free. Number two is that it’s free and extremely low-stakes. The grade does not count towards your credited GPA.”

Kline said these courses can improve programs on campus which have low enrollment numbers.

“There is a welding instructor from [Mt. San

Antonio College] who I have heard say several times that mirrored noncredit courses saved his program because his credit course had very low enrollment,” he said. Mirrored courses are “like sister courses,” Kline said when discussing his ESL 53A class, a credited course with the option of a noncredit course alongside it.

To read more visit eccunion.com

role in the murder.

Hahm called the only defense witness, Astaphan’s older sister, Stephanie Astaphan.

“He is not a person who engages in violence,” she said of her younger brother. “I know his values. I know his heart. He confides in me. I know his character to be that of a good man.”

In his closing arguments on Thursday, Feb. 22 and Friday, Feb. 23, Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Habib Balian said Peng’s and Astaphan’s actions were coordinated.

“They planned together, traveled together, attacked together and covered up together,” Balian said. Their actions were, “cold, deliberate, calculated, vicious.”

Hahm and Hedding argued in their closings that the prosecution had not proven either Peng’s or Astaphan’s intent to kill.

“The prosecution would

have you believe that a skinny Chinese guy from New York, his 80-pound girlfriend and his Caribbean friend whose dream was to own a car repair shop… represented a ‘symphony’ of cold-blooded, calculated killers,” Hahm said.

Hahm and Hedding both requested that Judge Mark Hanasono include voluntary manslaughter in his instructions to the jury. Hanasono refused, directing the jury to consider only first or second-degree murder.

Hahm told The Union he will appeal the decision due in part to Hanasono’s jury instructions.

“The judge should have let the jury decide,” Hahm said.

The Union made repeated attempts to interview Peng, Astaphan, Heng and Astaphan’s family. They declined opportunities to comment further.

Friday,

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1:51 p.m.

A vehicle was vandalized at parking Lot H. The case is currently open.

Monday, Feb. 26, 8:19 p.m.

An act of indecent exposure occurred at the Music Building. The case is currently open.

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 4:59 p.m.

A vehicular hit-and-run occurred in parking Lot C. The case is currently open.

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 7:23 a.m.

There was graffiti discovered in parking Lot L. The case is currently open.

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 5:37 p.m.

An act of indecent exposure was reported at the Arts Complex. The case is closed.

March 1, 1:22 p.m.

An individual was accused of battery in the Behavioral and Social Science Building. The case is closed.

Yajaira Hernandez and her partner Joel Wright wait outside Department 117 on the 11th floor of Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles during a break in closing arguments on Friday, Feb. 23. On Monday, Feb. 26, jurors found Weijia Peng and Ethan Astaphan guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Hernandez’s son, El Camino College student Juan Hernandez. Photo by Kim McGill

English professor Matthew Kline discusses noncredit courses and their benefits, such as not counting toward a student’s credited GPA, during the March 5 Academic Senate meeting. Photo by Kae Takazawa

The most recent misdemeanor was in May 2023. He was also charged with several felonies, the most recent one on Nov. 29, 2023, in Lennox.

Several Torrance residents told The Union they would see Davis at the park smoking marijuana and harassing people. They said he was prone to aggressive behaviors, including screaming at invisible people and “yelling so no one would come near him.”

The Union has made several attempts to schedule a visit to Davis but there are no appointments available.

Correa said Davis was not available for comment.

Several of Hanafusa’s coworkers at Goldrich Kest, a real estate company based in Culver City, attended the Jan. 17 arraignment.

Hanafusa worked at Goldrich Kest for 39 years and was about to retire before her death.

“We are here to represent her as a person so it doesn’t come off as [Hanafusa] was just some person collecting recyclables,” Letitia Hines, one of the employees, said. The death of Hanafusa has brought shock and grief to many neighbors.

Leslie Andersen, 63, lived

a few streets away from Hanafusa, and would regularly see her on her morning walks with their dogs, for about six or seven years.

“She was just the sweetest, gentlest, kindest soul,” Andersen said.

Feelings of apprehension and fear have stirred Torrance

residents with the increase of crime in the area, particularly in Alondra Park.

Torrance resident Jon McCormack said a big concern is people getting captured and then released, resulting in criminals not feeling as threatened by the criminal justice system as they used to. “Even if [Davis] is charged, a lot of us just don’t have the confidence that he’ll be taken care of,” he said.

Oliver Maruna, who has lived across from the Dominguez Channel since 2009, said he used to walk with his kids on El Camino’s campus but stopped bringing them due to the increase in crime in the area.

“We’re shocked [by Hanafusa’s death] but definitely not surprised because of all the other stuff in that area,” Maruna said. He said he’s seen transients on El Camino’s campus several times, in places including parking Lot C, volleyball courts and in front

of the tennis courts.

El Camino Police Chief Michael Trevis told The Union in a newsroom visit on Nov. 1, 2023, that transients inhabit campus and often stay overnight.

Nixle, a text alert system, regularly sends text message alerts about crimes that have occurred on campus. No Nixle alerts were issued to the El Camino community about the Dec. 24 attack.

“We had women walking there that same day, on El Camino. Nobody knew what happened,” Maruna said.

However, a Nixle alert was released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 27, 2024 at 4:19 p.m., stating the basic details of the assault.

Maruna said the El Camino administration did not inform the local community of what occurred.

“We’re the residents here, and we’re all surrounded by that,” Maruna said. “They don’t let anyone in the surroundings

ASO to use utility vehicle to set up events faster

The ASO will pay the annual fee for the vehicle’s usable life, the minutes said.

Tyler Strohl, student activities and ASO adviser, said the decision to get the utility vehicle was due in part to an increase in the organization’s revenue during the fall semester of 2023.

“In our preliminary budget we had anticipated making about $150,000, we actually cleared just under $300,000 so our revenue was up,” Strohl said.

The revenue increase was due to the increase in enrollment, Strohl said. The ASO Discount Benefit Pass and student representation fee which fund the ASO are “dictated” by enrollment, he said.

Money for the utility vehicle will come from Fund 72 which is made up of the student representation fee: the $2 fee students pay each spring and fall semester.

Strohl said after receiving the money, ASO was looking to improve its internal operations including enhancing student experience, saving more time

to meet with students and setting up events faster.

“We just couldn’t get to two places quick enough to get things done,” Strohl said. “To reach our constituents.”

After noticing the vehicles used by Facilities Planning and Services on campus, the ASO believed it could use a similar vehicle to their benefit.

“[ASO] had noticed [other vehicles on campus] and they had asked if this is something we can use, if it gives back and enhances the student experience,” Strohl said.

Strohl said that without a utility vehicle setting up for

events, like “Finals Madness,” is taking hours away from helping students due to the amount of time it takes to get food for said event. All time that could be spent helping students.

“All in all that process prior [to the event] was taking multiple days, multiple trips, multiple hours that staff… couldn’t be serving students and multiple times that ASO students couldn’t be getting [the] library set up for students to have a safe studying atmosphere,” Strohl said.

Strohl said with a utility vehicle, the process in

preparing for events will become faster.

“So then the night of the event comes, [they can] load everything up quick … drive it over, drop it at the event, drive back, get ready for the pizza, drive it over to the event, just increase the efficiency,” Strohl said. “I estimate it would save hours for each event.”

Since the utility vehicle is a purchase larger than $10,000 it has to go to the board of trustees for approval, Strohl said. ASO will fill out a form for donation and then send it to the board for approval.

Student Trustee Connor Lai said the trustees will vote on the purchase of the utility vehicle and the acceptance of the donation on March 21.

Lai said he had no comment on the purchase or impact of the utility vehicle.

“Out of impartiality and fairness to my colleagues on the board and out of following the code of ethics for the board of trustees, I will not comment,” he said.

Although it will be donated to the district, Strohl said the utility vehicle is the ASO’s;

the organization will “retain the exclusive right to use it so it can’t be used for facilities.”

ASO Vice President Jeon Park said with a utility vehicle, more ASO members can participate in activities rather than just helping to set up, which can take hours.

“With the utility vehicle, instead of employing [ASO] members with the setup hours we can maybe employ one to two members…[they can] transport all the tents at once and therefore have those members that would have rather been spending their time setting up actually be participating in the actual event themselves,” Park said.

Park said allowing more time for ASO members to participate in events rather than setting up will enhance the student experience.

“That example of having more members participate during the event rather than set up is just one small example of many ways the utility vehicle can affect [ASO],” he said.

A sign indicates the offices of the Associated Students Organization in the Communications Building on Oct. 4, 2023. Photo by Lana Milly

Candles and bouquets of flowers rest on one of the pillars outside of the Gymnasium where Junko Hanafusa was attacked on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. Photo By Ma. Gisela Ordenes

Moments on Campus :

Feb.

28, 1:30 p.m .

By Angela Osorio

Abarista prepares a drink for a customer at El Capuccino. A softball player swings for the ball during practice. Toilets are transformed into planter pots outside the Art Gallery. These are some of the moments one may catch on campus by taking the time to stop and look around. Spring is in full bloom at El Camino College, and several areas on campus are bustling with activity. Sports teams are practicing for the season, the theater department is preparing for an upcoming musical, the Social Justice Center is preparing to celebrate Women's

History Month, the respiratory program is preparing for its open house, and more. The Union sent out 16 photographers to the El Camino Bookstore, the softball field, the Library Lawn, the Art Gallery, the Music Building, the Marsee Auditorium, Schauerman Library and more locations on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to capture a photo at each location at the exact same time: 1:30 p.m. Take a look at some of the moments that were “captured in time” on an average afternoon on campus. To see more photos, visit the full story on eccunion.com.

Left Column:

An El Cappuccino barista cleans her station after making a coffee for a customer on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Photo by Monroe Morrow

A trio of old toilets serve as planter pots for succulents on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. The makeshift planters are on display outside the El Camino College Art Gallery. Photo by Delfino Camachoww

Students walk near Parking Lot K on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. Photo by Miliana Cienfuego

Right Column:

An El Camino College softball player takes a crack at the ball during practice on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m. Photo by Caleb Smith

Located west of the Humanities Building on the northeast side of campus, Café Camino offers a place for El Camino College students to relax and recharge on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m. Photo by Elsa Rosales

The Union

Arts Calendar

Merrily we Roll Along a Musical by Stephen

Sondheim

A musical about the lives of three characters, their friendships and milestones over the course of 20 years.

Marsee Auditorium

March 8, 9 @ 8 p.m.

March 10, 11 @ 3 p.m.

March 11 @ 7:30 p.m.

March 22, 23 @ 8 p.m.March 24 @ 3 p.m.

$25 general, $15 with valid student ID

Discovery Film Series: Colorado River

Film screening featuring Civil War veteran who guided the frst expedition into the canyon lands of the Colorado River in 1869.

Marsee Auditorium

March 11 @ 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

$16 general, $14 with valid student ID

Patrick Blake Leeper, Paralympic Athlete & Guest Speaker

Track and Field international medalist will provide a motivational speech about “running for your dreams.”

Marsee Auditorium

March 12 @ 7 p.m.

$24 general, $10 with valid student ID

Native American Drum Circle

“An interactive Drum Circle led by persons of Native American Heritage.“

March 19 @ 1 p.m.

Art Gallery

Free event

Inna Faliks: Polonaise FantasieThe Story of a Pianist

Piano recital and autobiographical monologue telling the story of pianist and piano professor Inna Failks.

Marsee Auditorium

March 22 @ 8 p.m.

$26 general, $10 with valid student ID

X-Ray Extraordinaire:

Beloved rad tech director to retire a er 23 years at El Camino

By Emily Gomez

While still in high school, Dawn Charman had a goal in mind: she was going to pursue healthcare.

Charman began her radiology career in high school, working as a clerical and tech assistant at a hospital in 1974.

Following her high school graduation, Charman studied at El Camino College and received her degree in radiologic technology in 1979.

Little did she know that she would return to the college many years later, not as a student, but as faculty and eventually, program director.

Charman is the second director in the 52 years of El Camino’s radiologic technology program and has educated over 400 students during her time at the college.

As she plans to retire by the end of spring 2024, her impact on the community is recognized by many.

Charman began teaching at Pasadena City College in 1984 and Chaffey College in 1994. She also worked as a radiologic technologist before returning to El Camino as part-time clinical educator for the program in 2000.

She became full-time faculty in 2001 and replaced the previous director and coordinator in 2003.

Charman has dedicated 50 years to radiology, 30 years to education and over 20 years to her position as director and

program coordinator.

“It’s been rewarding,” she said.

Charman said most of the faculty in the radiology program used to be her students.

“I would say 80 to 90% of the techs that are working in the local hospitals are my graduates,” she said.

While at times she can get overwhelmed with her work, Charman says the completion ceremony at the end of the year makes it all worth it.

“It’s my reward to see that they’ve completed and that they are going to go on and have great lives,” she said.

Eric Villa, full-time clinical coordinator for the radiologic technology program, attended El Camino in 2006, when Charman was the director.

He said that she has always been “very helpful,” making sacrifces for her students.

“[When I was a student] I respected her,” Villa said. “[Now as an employee] I still have this high level of respect for her but [her role] was a different thing to see.”

Villa said he gets to see how the program runs behind the scenes.

“It gave me even more of a respect for how diffcult it is to run such a program at a high level with a high success rate,” Villa said.

As previously reported by The Union, the radiologic technology program has had a 100% success rate with students passing their American Registry of

Radiologic Technologists tests on the frst attempt, and a 100% student success rate for job placement post-graduation.

There is also a high demand for the program, as at one time the program had over 100 applications and only 24 positions available.

Charman’s leadership consists of a good balance, Villa said, assuring that everyone stays in line and understands what they need to do.

“[Charman] can discipline and remediate as needed,” Villa said. “She also has a soft side to her where she can really feel sympathetic and empathetic for students, for faculty. When it’s needed, she can be a good support system for anybody.”

After Charman retires, her successor will be Michele Perez, a full-time professor for the radiologic technology program.

Perez said Charman has been a great leader and mentor

to her.

“[Charman] extends herself to students, faculty beyond what she probably should,” she said.

Perez said she is gathering all the information and “little details” she can learn from Charman.

“I’ve always tried to mentor new faculty that come in and give them at least guidelines as to what direction to take with their information,” Charman said.

Once she retires, Charman looks forward to spending time with her husband, two sons, grandchildren and friends, as well as trying new things.

“We’re really gonna miss her. She’s really an incredible human being in general, so much more beyond just being a director,” Perez said.

Kae Takazawa contributed to this story.

Dawn Charman, 67, radiologic technology program director and coordinator in front of displays of x-ray scans on Monday, Dec. 11. The scans are used in the radiologic technology classroom, located in the Math Business and Allied Health Building. Photo by Emily Gomez

Radiologic Technology Professor Michele Perez will take Charman’s position next fall. “I love the students, I love teaching them, I love seeing them just grow,” she said. Photo by Clarence Davis

Soccer coach completes his vision, makes history

The Warriors claim their first National Championship since 1987

By Ma. Gisela Ordenes

The record-breaking El Camino College men’s soccer coach is always ahead of schedule, including to a meeting with his destiny.

In his six years as Warriors coach, which included a year when the season was canceled because of the pandemic, Mike Jacobson delivered a state and national championship.

“It’s funny. You have the vision of ‘OK, in year five–and I have it somewhere down on paper in my house–was try to win a state championship and that was [in 2023],” Jacobson said.

It was the first national title in the college soccer program’s history, the fifth state championship in El Camino’s history and the first in over three decades.

The feat earned the soccer program the distinction of being one of only two programs in Warrior Athletics history to earn a national title. The other team was when the Warriors football team won it in 1987.

Jacobson, who counts the legendary Brazilian soccer player Pelé as his idol, said he wrote down what his goals were for the program when he was hired as coach in 2018.

The father of two said it was fantastic to hit the goal of how

he planned things out.

“[In 2022], this program did get to a Final Four and honestly that was ahead of schedule,” Jacobson said. “So we’ve been doing some good work leading up to this point.”

The work resulted in a nearperfect record of 24 wins, with the team’s only blemish to its dominating season coming in their third game, a 3-1 loss to Norco College.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Jacobson played college soccer at Syracuse University before playing professionally as a midfielder for the Alleycats, a team from Albany, New York.

It was at Syracuse when he was about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in physical education where Jacobson decided he wanted to become a soccer coach.

“Dean Foti, my coach at the time, asked me what my interests were. I said like I’d like to do what you do and coach,” Jacobson said.

Foti helped Jacobson get a job at Plattsburgh State University of New York through Chris Waterbury.

“I was young, right out of college and my experience with Plattsburgh and Chris Waterbury was fantastic,” Jacobson said. “It sold me on ‘OK, this is what I want to do

with my career.”

He started getting coaching licenses. He moved to the South Bay in 2001 and became the assistant coach of the men’s soccer team at the California State University Dominguez Hills.

In 2006, he started working as the men’s soccer team assistant coach at Cal State L.A. He was there for 12 years where he was also the women’s soccer team assistant coach in six of those years.

Steven Barrera, the team’s goalkeeping coach, said Jacobson is both “professional and personable.”

Jacobson coached Barrera at

Cal State L.A. When El Camino came calling to coach its men’s soccer team in 2018, Jacobson asked Barrera to come work for him.

“It’s been nothing short of professional. He was very professional as he coached me, and he was just as professional when it came down to coaching right next to him,” Barrera said.

Barrera said it’s not easy to manage a group of 30 competitive players who all wanted to play, but he credits Jacobson’s honesty with the squad as the reason why each player understood his role.

He said what happened after the championship game is a

testament to Jacobson’s hard work of ensuring the players connect well.

“When we had won everything, the boys at a certain point all went to him and picked him up and started throwing him up in the air, like a little celebration,” Barrera said.

Miguel Sanchez, assistant coach, said Jacobson is very good at communicating what he expects from the team, always on the same page as them.

“Any player whether they’re a starting player or like guy on the bench that is not playing so much, they all feel the same respect and love for coach Mike,” Sanchez said.

Roster woes lead to cancellation of basketball season

Women’s Basketball shuts down 18 games due to injuries and low player numbers

By Tommy Kallman and Johan Van Wier

The rest of the season is canceled for the El Camino College’s women’s basketball team due to fewer players being available for games.

The Warriors started the season with nine healthy players. They went down to seven players in their last game and now only have four players available.

Due to safety concerns about overworking players and fighting through injuries, the Athletic Department decided on Jan. 10 to cancel the remainder of the games.

A total of 18 scheduled games remaining in the season had to be scrapped.

The first game of the season was a 96-37 loss against Pierce College, followed by four losses, a 71-17 loss to Fullerton College, an 82-33 loss to Rio Hondo College, an 85-37 loss to Irvine Valley College and an 81-31 loss to Palomar College.

The Warriors won their last

game of the season against College of the Desert, 54-38.

“It was hard getting to that point, your drive as a coach is to get to the season, that’s the fun part… a lot of that [work] had gone in already,” coach Steve Shaw said.

The women’s basketball team has struggled to field a healthy amount of players for the past couple of seasons. Shaw recalls finishing with “six or seven players” last year and playing multiple games with only five players.

Sophomore guard Teena Ponce said she was not surprised by the season getting dropped.

“Definitely bummed at first but could kinda see it coming the way people were quitting [and injuries],” Ponce said. Red-shirt sophomore guard Shana Moten came into the season rehabbing an ACL injury last year.

“I was already kind of recovering from my ACL injury. So it was a bummer because that was like my last

couple of games I could play until I had to, like really focus on my career…” Moten said.

Sophomores of the team got the opportunity to finish the rest of the season at Los Angeles Southwest College and join its women’s team.

Yumika Sugahara, Moten and Ponce all accepted the opportunity and were grateful to get a chance to play in their last season as sophomores.

“Definitely my parents being my biggest supporters, they were bummed that season got canceled. But then, given the opportunity to play somewhere else, they got to watch me play and finish off my sophomore season,” Ponce said.

It was an important decision for the sophomores because it would determine whether they continue their career in basketball.

“I guess it affected it where I had to really decide whether I was done playing or if I was gonna transfer, and [the athletic staff] helped me figure that out,” Moten said.

Moten said it was a tough decision because she wanted to play with her original team. “I’ve spent like, almost two, three years here. So I wanted to end it out with coach Shaw,” she said.

Shaw has emphasized recruiting the “last couple of years” to increase the roster numbers, but is now taking a

different strategy to make sure he has a committed team.

“We’ve recruited hard, we spend a lot of time... It’s not just that, it’s trying to evaluate the commitment of players earlier on so that we are bringing in players that are fully committed to the team, the process and the sacrifices [that has to take place],” Shaw said.

Players and coaches from El Camino College Men’s Soccer team raise their 2023 State Championship trophy atop a firetruck as they parade through campus on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Warrior’s won their fifth state championship in program history and first since the 1992 season. Photo by Ethan Cohen

El Camino sophmore guard Teena Ponce defends a women’s basketball class member driving to the basket durring a Warriors practice on Feb. 28. Photo By Tommy Kallman